Inner Darkness
by Seven Star Swordsman
Summary: Because, whoever said that Rey would make a good Jedi?
1. Chapter 1

When Rey's fingers curled over the ancient lightsaber, she immediately felt an overwhelming sense of familiarity. Even after the violent vision that showed her great and terrible glimpses into her own past and that of Kylo Ren was over, it was not that which made her recoil in horror.

It was the blade itself, that sense of -belonging- that made her drop it. The metal hilt was colder than the void of space, and she could feel the violent past that hung over it like a miasma. The firey blade was never quenched even after it had been dipped in the blood of thousands. It was a tool of a murderer, and then it was used by the son of a murderer on his quest for vengence.

And yet, the fact that she felt comforted by the lightsaber terrified her.

* * *

When Rey was trapped by Kylo Ren in those restraints, it was Rey who was able to trap Kylo Ren inside of his mind.

When he reached out to touch her mind, she recoiled in instinct and fright. His gloved hand hovered in front of her eyes, yet she saw nothing other than flashes of light and color. She was cold, tired, hungry and above all was growing frustrated and angry with his interrogations.

She instinctively took a hold of those sensations and pushed against the heavy weight on her thoughts. She threw her willpower against that of Kylo Ren's, a battle of the force in the purest sense. But, where Rey drew upon her anger and growing hate, Ren was divided by his own fear and insecurities. She got glipses of his thoughts, his feelings and she turned the tables on him, peering into his mind.

In a display of cruelty that she didn't know she was capable of, she gave a smirk even as she breathed heavily from the effort. "You...you're afraid of me, aren't you?" There was an alarmingly large part of her that was pleased with this knowledge.

And when Ren made his way out of the room, having blustered his way through the rest of their 'conversation', Rey knew that she was in control of the situation the entire time.

* * *

When Rey felt the heat of Ren's lightsaber threatening to kiss her skin, she wondered at how strong Ren really was. Even injured, he was more than a match for her, pushing her back to the edge of the abyss. She could feel the Dark Side rolling off of him in waves, his face an expression of anger and rage as he did his best to kill her.

She could feel the strength in her limbs fading, the cold and her own exhaustion eroding her will to live. And then, Ren spoke to her. "You need a teacher." He all but spat "I can show you the ways of the force! Join me!"

And there it was. "The Force." Rey breathed, closing her eyes in realization. She could feel that power all around her, inside of her very being. Just there for the taking, waiting for someone to command it. And she took it, feeling the rush of power as she embraced her feelings, the sensations around her being the perfect fuel. Her senses came into a hyper sharp focus, her body was filled with a renewed strength.

She almost effortlessly ended the saber lock, pushing Ren away from her as she readied her blade in front of her. She felt fully in command of herself for the first time in a long time, and the sensation was glorious.

Rey threw herself into an offensive, picking apart the figure that had made her life a living hell over the past several days. She took pleasure in humiliating him, inflicting several wounds upon his body, before looking down at his defeated form. The sight of his broken body made her pause, and within seconds the euphoric control over the force snapped, even as the earth crumbled around her, leaving her no chance to finish off Ren.

And when she returned to the Falcon, she found herself struggling with not with if she had it within herself to kill Kylo Ren, but how easily she found it was to picture herself ending his life.

* * *

When Rey found herself confronting Luke Skywalker, that legendary Jedi who had once wielded the blade in her hands, she was not worried about weather or not she was strong enough to learn from Luke, but if he was willing to train someone who's entire being was opposed to the Jedi way of thinking.

She was not peaceful. She was not humble. She was not passive. Rey was someone who could not stop, ever, not when there were things that needed to be done, not when there were still threats out there to her and her new friends. She knew that the First Order would not stop even after the destruction of Starkiller Base, not unless she -made them stop-.

The flash of rage that tore through her mind made her tear up with shame and bitter disappointment. Luke left the known galaxy because he had trained a pupil who was seduced by a dark sider, with said pupil even now being conflicted with his decision.

Why would he train her, someone who's very being was forged by struggle and conflict, who took to using the force to manipulate and kill like a fish did to water?

When he accepted the Saber from her hands after a long moment of silence, that unresolved 'why' hung over her head like an executioner's axe.

But...a very small part of her vowed that it would be her holding the axe over the heads of others, someday.

And there was absolutely no part of her that wouldn't be fine with that outcome.

* * *

Author's Note: Just a little bit of musing on Rey's darker nature that very few have seemed to touch on, when it was so readily obvious to me in the movie that it made me want to jump for joy. She makes for a far greater and scarier Sith than Kylo Ren could ever hope to be.

Please, enjoy the story, and leave a review. It might inspire me to write something else.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Normally I'll have these at the end of the chapter, but I figure I would just preface this with a few things. Since we're delving into things that have not yet occured, I will be using a much more descriptive style that will fill in more detail and content. I expect this story to take quite some time, and I am unsure if I will ever finish it, regardless of how far along I get. Also, these stories are currently not beta-read, and although I do my best to proof read them, I am notoriously bad at it. If you see any glaring mistakes, kindly point them out to me in a review (which will hopefully also say other things), and I will gladly upload a corrected chapter.

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please simply leave them in a review. Reviews do genuinely make my day and I enjoy reading them greatly, it only takes a few moments. Thank you, and I hope you enjoy reading about Rey's first steps into a larger world.

* * *

Luke ushered Rey into the depths of the stone temple, leading her down a stone staircase that was lit by artificial lights, but even that failed to keep away the darkness that seeped into the stonework of the ancient ruin.

The elderly Jedi was mostly silent during their trek through the stone temple, only ending the silence with a gruff "Watch your step", which she was glad for. The Jedi who had build this place, wise they may be, appeared to have never heard of something called a Level.

The stopped in the doorway of what looked to be a training room, a few ancient looking terminals lining the far wall. There were a few stone chairs that seemed to be part of the room itself, and small wooden table in front of them with an out of place data pad placed carelessly on top of it, a mug of caffa laying forgotten next to it.

Luke strode over to the items and grasped the cup in his metal hand, downing the tepid liquid in one gulp before turning to face Rey, who returned his gaze with renewed nervousness.

"So...you managed to somehow get your hands on each piece of the star map that lead to me, and found my father's Lightsaber in the process." He mused, stating it rather than asking it. For her part, Rey remained silent, recognizing that he had a point to make.

"Maz Kanata held that saber, and that star map was in the hands of several different individuals, not to mention my R2 unit was with the resistance...So, either you're with the Resistance, or you're with the First Order, and if you were with the First Order, then this entire temple would be stormed by Ben Solo's stormtroopers." He finished, sighing as he sat down in a stone chair, gesturing for Rey to sit in the one next to him. "So...you're what, a force sensitive with the Resistance in need of training? Or am I getting a bit senile in my old age and you just want to bring me into the Resistance?"

The intensity of Luke's gaze was a bit overwhelming at first for Rey, but she dug deep and met his eyes with confidence. "I need training. I fought with Kylo Ren...managed to scrape by and even mark him up a bit, but...I need to learn the ways of the force, Master Luke." She said, making Luke scowl a bit and wave his hand dismissively.

"I am no Master, not any more..." He said, his eyes going a bit distant from the memories of Kylo Ren slaughtering his initates. "Not since Ben left me with no one to teach." He grunted, clearly a bit uncomfortable from the memory. "But, you fought with him and lived, eh? No training..." If he was impressed, it didnt show. "Well, if you're dead set on getting in the way of the Knights of Ren and their Sith master, then I might as well do my best to keep you from getting yourself killed. Perhaps you'll even learn a thing or two about the Jedi along the way."

"Why?" Rey blurted out before thinking, making Luke look at her curiously. "Why...why train me?" She elaborated, making the older Jedi think for a moment, choosing his words carefully.

"'Why?', she asks? You're the one who sought me out for training, and yet you want to question why I'm doing it? Hmm, you're a thoughtful one." He said, now appearing a bit more interested in Rey than he had been before. "As to why, well...I can sense you have a purpose. The Force is acting through you, that much is certain. I would be a fool to ignore the calling, no matter how painful it is or how many reservations I have about teaching you. You can't get a much higher recommendation than the one you have now."

The way Luke called attention to the darkness in her heart without calling attention to it made Rey squirm in her seat. She would gladly take ten Kylo Ren trying to poke around in her mind than one astute Luke Skywalker.

Luke leaned forward a bit in his seat, threading his fingers together in front of him, peering at her. "Show me what you can do. Open yourself to the force."

"I can tr-" Rey began to say anxiously, but Luke gave a deep bellied chuckle, shaking his head at her.

"Do, or do not. There is no try, as my old Master used to say. Open yourself up to the force, or don't. Those are your two options, young one." Luke said, the mirth leaving his eyes as he waited for her to embrace it.

Rey took a deep breath and closed her eyes, searching for that elusive feeling once more. At first, her tenative attempts left her fruitless, but then she seized upon the feeling of frustration, that anger at her own helplessness and the will she had to be in control of herself. The force sang her praises, responding with a warm rush of power that left her feeling completely sure of herself. But unlike last time, she delved further into it, reveling in the power she could feel. She had to keep herself from laughing at the sense of being, of belonging and enlightenedment that she could feel.

The Force flowed through her entire being, and she felt like it could do anything, like she could do anything. "More!" She told it, and more the Force gave her. It felt like the universe was unraveling around her. She could feel the room, the temple, the island, even the planet full of life and energy, creatures living and dying in a nexus of energy that was hers to mold as she saw fit.

'Is this what the Jedi of old felt like?' She wondered 'Like they lived in a world of cardboard?'. It was a wonder, and a testament to the power of the Emperor that they had ever been defeated if that was the case. Suddenly, Rey felt a sharp 'knock' on her awareness, and a faint sound. She listened a bit harder, until she heard a loud 'Enough!' that broke her out of the trance.

Rey blinked, gasping and breathing heavily as Luke looked at her, a stern but worried expression on his worn face. "That was...something." He said at last, letting Rey fully come back to her normal senses. "You definitely have an interesting grasp on the force, but you lack temperment and control. But, ah, before we continue." And here, Luke had the decency to have a bit of a sheepish look on his face. "What is your name again?"

Rey gave him an exasperated look that dissolved in a fit of giggles, still a bit euphoric from opening herself to the force in a situation that wasnt life or death. "Rey...my name is Rey."

"Rey..." Luke sounded out to himself, rolling the letters on his tongue as if to test her name for any faults, before giving a nod. "A good name. Names say a lot about a person, or so I've read." He rose from his seat suddenly, Rey following suit in a scramble. "I suppose I should show you to a room. You might be living a bit of a rustic life style until we can get more supplies for a second guest, but I'm sure you brought things with you and there is plenty of space."

They walked out of the training room, where unnoticed to both of them, the stone chair that Rey had been sitting in had faint cracks crisscrossing the surface of it.

* * *

Luke had Rey put her things in an unused room that had been used by a former Jedi Master, back when the temple had been inhabited. It was a large room with a stone slab for a bed, one which she did her best to cover up with a few pieces of bedding that she scrounged from the Millennium Falcon. She had gathered her things after Luke had shown her the room, giving Chewbacca a heartfelt goodbye, telling him that she needed to stay here for training. Chewbacca had been sad to let her go, giving a mournful little yell in goodbye before hugging her in a bone crushing embrace.

She had returned it and sent him on her way, taking all her meager possessions with her. Luke had eyed her things and gave a little nod of approval. "Traveling light is half of the Jedi way." He joked, making her smile a little.

She returned to the present, glancing up at the gray stone walls, a single electric lamp providing the only illumination in the room. In a way, the gloomy surroundings reminded her of home, the metal walls of the AT-AT matching the stone almost shade for shade. She felt a bit comforted, but she knew now that Jakku held nothing more for her, not even the dim hope for a family again.

Rey had to look forward, and the way forward was through training with Luke Skywalker, the great Jedi hero so she could...what, exactly? Become a Jedi herself, destroy the great and terrible Kylo Ren and his shadowy master? Did she had it within herself to become a hero?

As she laid down underneath the coverings to get warm and sleep, she knew one thing. She knew that she would find out what she was capable of soon enough.


	3. Chapter 3

Rey awoke from her rest, her internal clock rousing her at a rather early hour in the morning. Back on Jakku, she had to get up at the early dawn and head out for one of the various wrecks that dotted the surface of the world, otherwise you would be beaten to it by another scavenger team. She had learned that you worked long and hard, and it just might pay off at the end of the day.

Besides, she mused, getting off the makeshift bed, she was rather hungry. She did a few quick stretched to get a bit of elasticity back into her limbs and made her way out of the room, before stopping in the doorway. A flash of irritation at the fact Luke had neglected to mention exactly where he kept the food in the temple made its way through her head, a grimace on her face.

But, as she considered the issue, perhaps this was some kind of test? After all, Rey had managed to reach out with the force once to sense others, perhaps she could do it again? She reached out with the force, drawing upon the well of strength within herself again, reaching out with as much control as she could muster, left she lose herself in the force again. And...there...she felt someone, something. It was a vague impression, and yet it was enough.

She turned to the right and headed down the hallway, concentrating on the sensation as best she could while still maintaining self awareness. She arrived at what looked to be a mess hall, her head pounding from the effort of maintaining such a connection to the force while she saw Luke cooking what appeared to be eggs and some form of meat behind the counter, sipping on a cup of caffa while humming to himself as it sizzled away.

"You know, something tells me the ancient Jedi weren't exactly that concerned with normal people finding their way around the place." She grumbled, sitting down on a stool in front of Luke, who merely chuckled.

"Consider it an initiation, young one. Be glad I didn't teach you as my Master taught me." He warned her, good humor in his eyes, making them crinkle a bit.

"And how did your Master teach you?" She asked out of curiosity, wondering what could have possibly been worse than getting a giant headache from using the force too much.

Luke finished cooking their meal at that moment, passing it to her using the force to levitate the plate that he had prepared, leaving Rey almost open mouthed at the sheer control that Luke had to use the force like that. When she had called on the force to bring Anakin's lightsaber to her hand, it had thrown itself at her and she ended up catching it with her open hand.

"He had me carry him on his back in the middle of a fetid swamp that smelled like a Bantha's backside for hours, and while threatening to hit me with a pointy stick the entire time if I didn't do as he said. Granted, he was a small green alien who weighed less than my backpack, but still. It was a very humbling experience." Luke grumbled good naturedly, while Rey broke out into a fit of laughter at the image.

"No, no...I won't be relying on such methods, effective though they may be. Your training will begin in earnest, after you've eaten of course. I've found that's one thing that leads to a much more effective learning experience when teaching someone. I've had more than one initiate ready to pass out because they were so nervous they forgot to eat." Somehow, Rey didn't have a tough time imagining some kid being anxious enough to skip breakfast.

After they had both finished their meal, Luke took her back to the training room, where he had her sit down on the floor, her legs crossed. "Now, Rey." Luke began, sitting on the floor opposite from her. "I want you to slowly open yourself up to the force. Do not grasp it, instead let it flow through you. Become one with it, do not make it become one with you."

Rey nodded and closed her eyes, reaching out for the Force, only for Luke to sigh and say "Do not reach for it. The Jedi do not impose their will on the force. They ask, they become one with it, and the force will respond. Let it come to you."

She tried again, this time trying to reverse the feeling from before. Instead of that supreme sense of self that came from channeling her emotions to use the force, she tried to forget herself. The force washed over her, her awareness becoming one with it, unlike before where the force had become one with her. It was an alien feeling, and the lack of control frightened her. She gasped and broke the trance, only to open her eyes and find Luke looking at her with a small frown.

"A decent first attempt. I suppose it is only natural for you to not be used to calling on the Force as the Jedi do." He told her. His voice gentle, so filled with understanding and acceptance that a lump formed in her throat that she desperately tried to swallow.

"B-but I broke the connection too ea-" Rey tried to tell him, but she trailed off when Luke simply shook his head.

"This is no failure, Rey. Be mindful of your feelings, lest they betray you and lead you to unnecessary frustration and hardship. This is part of the learning process, and there will be many times where you will be faced with things that may appear impossible. True failure is not being stopped by them, but failing to get back up when you do." His words were impossibly wise and got to the core of exactly what was flowing through her head. Her emotions were running out of control at times, and leading her to be more intolerant of the little annoyances that existed around her than she normally would be.

Of course, there was a part of her that said not taking things laying down wasn't a bad thing, now was it? She shook her head, learning to control those impulses was the entire reason she was here in the first place. It would be foolish to ignore Luke's warnings. "Thank you, Master Luke." She said, her voice filled with gratitude.

For his part, Luke looked a bit uncomfortable with the praise, and merely gave a nod of acknowledgement. "You'll soon enough be finding things to curse me about instead. Especially when we get started on your lightsaber training, but that's for another time. Open yourself to the Force again."

Rey closed her eyes once more and let the force flow through her. She stilled her emotions, riding along the currents of the force, the passive ebb and flow of life itself. It was a euphoria of a different sort, this one a feeling of ultimate relaxation and peace, whereas before, the Force had been a high of activity and power. The contrast was stark, and in both states she was keenly aware of everything she felt.

She went a bit further into the feeling, letting herself flow down the current of the Force, gently brushing against the other presence in the room. She -felt- Luke be startled by her reaching out, but he gave a proverbial 'tap' of his own in return. Rey opened her eyes, to see Luke looking at her with approval. "Excellent. You've taken the first steps into a larger world." Now, there was a nasty bit of Deja Vu that left Rey wondering exactly how much of that vision in Maz Kanata's palace was the past, and how much of it was the future.

"Now that you're able to open yourself to the Force" Luke continued. "You will be able to learn proper control over yourself. Using the force is nothing like anything else you'll experience in your life." On that, the two of them could agree. "Your training will be long, and rigorous. I will be having you read extensive writings on the nature of the Jedi, and the Force." It was interesting how Luke separated the two, but Rey didn't comment on it. "I'm sure that the Resistance, and indeed the entirety of the Republic will be needing us sooner rather than later, but I'm sure that this...First Order will be reeling from the blow you dealt them. We have some time to do things a bit more properly."

For that, she was glad. Rey had every desire to learn all that she could about this new found facet of herself, and she would eagerly learn all that she could. On that note, Luke rose and she followed suit, leading her to look at him curiously. "Where are we going now?" She questioned.

Luke paused in the doorway before simply saying "The temple archives."

* * *

Author's Note: My chapters will likely be short and cover smaller spans of time, simply because it gets to the point where longer chapters get a bit daunting to write. I hope you're enjoying my characterizations of Rey and Luke so far, I am trying to keep them relatively in character.

As always, please leave comments, concerns, and suggestions in a review. Thank you.

Updated, fixed some spelling mistakes.


	4. Chapter 4

What the ancient Jedi lacked in decorative sense, they more than made up for in terms of sheer scale. The Archives were massive with a wide, vaulted ceiling allowing for massive rows upon rows of ancient data terminals, flimsi shelving, and artifact displays to create a truly gargantuan place of learning. Rey looked around in wonder at the sheer scale, stretching on for quite some distance. She could probably fit most of her old village in the part she could see alone, and she doubted that they housed everything in the middle of this hall. There were probably sub-sections with even more things hidden away, waiting to be discovered.

Her almost child-like wonder was broken when Luke beckoned her over to one of the data terminals. He typed in a string of characters so fast that it nearly made her head spin, and pulled out a primitive looking data pad from a slot in the machine. "As far as I can tell, this temple was last used over a thousand years ago, back during the Russan Reformation. I'm unsure as to why it was abandoned, but those days were chaotic." Luke explained to her. Of course, much of what he was saying flew over her head, so she simply nodded.

Luke's face twisted into a wry smile, sensing her confusion. "In the future, if you have a question, you need only ask." Ignoring the faint blush on Rey's cheeks, he held out the data pad to her. "The selection of works I downloaded into this pad should be enough for you to study when we're not doing practical lessons."

"Do you really think I'm going to have time to read this many books?" She asked incredulously, scrolling down the list of things that Luke had added onto the Datapad. Rey was a decent reader, owning to the fact that she had nothing to do at night on Jakku. On occassion, she would barter for data-pad novels in exchange for some of the things she recovered from wrecks, assuming that she had enough left over to feed herself. Thinking back on it, not having to worry about having enough to eat every day was a welcome change of pace.

Luke's expression was one of thoughtfulness, thinking about the point she raised. "Well...after learning the setback the First Order suffered, I would imagine they would be quite cautious, with the Republic and Resistance both now alerted to their ambitions." He went silent again, closing his eyes. Rey could feel him touch the Force, like the faintest whisper of wind. It was getting easier for Rey to feel these...disturbances. They tickled her senses, made her alert with anticipation and energy.

It was odd to her, the urge to touch the Force. It was like a blind man learning to see, you didn't know you were missing anything until it was revealed to you. She was tempted to open her awareness to see what Luke was doing, before he opened his eyes again, breathing deeply. "I think you'll have plenty of time to study with me here. When the time comes for you to leave, you'll know." He told her.

She accepted his word and tucked the datapad under her arm. "I certainly hope you're right." She said, willing to trust his judgment, but still worried for the sake of her new friends. Poe would be directly in the thick of the fighting, while god knows what the Resistance would task Finn with after he was done recovering. Rey had already lost them both once, she would prefer not to lose them again.

Luke, sensing her inner turmoil and indecision, merely gave her a look that said he knew. "Be mindful of your feelings" He told her gently. "Lest they consume you."

There was wisdom in his words, she knew. Her emotions were directly tied to the Force, and could allow her to do great and terrible things. She let the Force flow through her, to calm and guide herself. It was hard to keep the swirling thoughts under the surface of her mind in control, now that she was so hyper aware of everything.

'Perhaps this was how the road to the Dark Side started for most people', she thought to herself. Everything felt so much more real to her, and for any being with this kind of awareness it must have been hard to not feel more strongly, to give into those strong bursts of emotion. She herself had certainly given into them, back during the battle at Starkiller Base.

Luke remained silent as Rey touched the Force, pleased that she was able to calm her own inner turmoil without any true aid. He beckoned her to follow him as he headed deeper into the Archives. "Let me show you something truly remarkable about this place." He said, more animation on his face than Rey had seen before.

They walked past the shelving, their steps echoing loudly in the silent hall as they reached a back room. It was a much smaller, but still spacious room that was about the size of the training room he had taken her to earlier. It was laid out like a theater of sorts, a ring of seating surrounding a sunken circle. However, instead of a lecturn or a podium, against the wall there were several odd looking pyramid and cube shapes stacked in rows, recessed into special shelving that held them perfectly.

"What are those?" Rey found herself asking, walking down into the circle to get a closer look at the strange set up. "It looks like a class room out of a holo still."

Luke walked up next to her and nodded in affirmation. "Thats because it is a classroom. However, it is not an ordinary class room." A touch of the force brushes up against Rey's senses, as one of the devices suddenly lit up, a projection of a cloaked figure standing in the circle. She jumped back a bit in shock, staring at the hologram. "Is...this some kind of recording?" She asked tenatively, before actually jumping back in shock when the hologram turned to face her, revealing an elderly, scowling woman who had white hair braided into two long stands that fell down the front of her robes. Her eyes where cloudy, even in the hologram, and she looked at Rey before turing to Luke.

"So, you've finally brought someone here for me to teach. I was wondering if you would end up being the last Jedi I see." She told him, a hand on her hip as she leveled him a look of mild displeasure. Her voice was clear, almost bordering on monotone, but the inflection she used could easily convey her exact feelings on a matter. At once, Rey was enthralled by the projection.

"Yes, well...I must admit I was not actively seeking someone to bring you. Rey, this is-" Luke began to say, before the projection cut him off.

"You may call me Kreia, or Master Kreia if you would seek a name for me. And judging by the look on your face, you must have never seen a Holocron before." Kreia spoke with a much softer voice, appraising Rey as she stood before her. "I think you will be interesting to teach, my dear. You remind me of my first Padawan."

Rey could sense the fabric of the Force twist itself as Kreia looked at her, those eyes piercing even with the relatively substandard holographic projection that came from the device. Kreia's form flickered, as if to signify she was finished, and she fixed her gaze back on Luke. "I would teach her in solitude. I do not tend to work well with others breathing down my neck."

Luke's face twisted up as if he had eaten something sour, and Rey had to stifle her own amusement at the sharp tongued Jedi Master. "Well..." And here, Luke had to truly control his own irritation. "I was hoping that I could at least observe one of her first lessons via Holocron, but if you insist, I shall leave. Do be careful though, she is new to our ways." And as he looked back to Rey, Luke's expression changed back to one of a stoic Jedi. "I must go attend to other things for now, and draw up my own lessons for you. Master Kreia should be able to teach you some of the basics for now, and I will help supplement anything she misses." Kreia gave a sniff of displeasure at that comment, but Luke ignored her and continued. "So for now, stay with her as long as you need to, I will come bring you something if you are not done by dinner."

And with that, Luke turned to leave, his footsteps clapping against the stone work until they faded into nothingness. When he left, Kreia's blind eyes fixed upon Rey with a look that chilled her to the core. "Yes..." She drawled, her tone a blend of amusement, anticipation, and knowing. "You are new to our ways, aren't you?"

Author's Notes: These notes will be a bit lengthy, so bear with me.

1, I am looking for a beta reader to help me with these chapters, if anyone is interested in fulfilling such a position. A very, VERY strong background in the Star Wars EU is neccesary, I need someone to bounce ideas off of and send them these chapters to proof read, correct mistakes, and help me story board a bit.

2, For those of you who do not know who Kreia is, if you do not wish to be spoiled in terms of future plot points, do NOT look up who she is. Simply trust my judgement, and for those of you who DO know who she is, do not spoil it for others in a review. All I can say is, I needed someone to play Virgil to Rey's Dante, and I could think of no one better.

3, I will be using, as you can already tell, Legends EU stuff up to the Battle of Endor, and perhaps a bit beyond depending on what material I will need to use. I will do my very very best to NOT change the current dynamic between the importance of the Resistance/Republic and First Order conflics. But anything in the past is up for grabs.

4, Please, PLEASE let me know what you think of this chapter, as well as how my writing is. I feel like I'm lacking some critical human element, and I need more reviews in order to gauge how I'm doing, and if these characterizations are enjoyable.

P.S.: Should I type up larger chapters and upload those at once? What do you guys think is a good chunk of reading for a chapter, and what's a decent wait? 


	5. Chapter 5

Kreia studied the girl before her, looking for any telltale signs of prior instruction, or training. Well, "looking" was a relative concept for the gatekeeper of a Holocron, who was as blind inside of it as she was in life. Instead, the Holocron was able to manipulate the very currents of the Force, in order to convey to Kreia the very truth of Rey's form.

To Rey, who could feel these manipulations, it was a wonderous thing. "How can you...do that?" She wondered aloud, staring at her new teacher's holographic form.

Kreia stired a bit in surprise, raising an eyebrow. "So, you can sense the manipulations of my Holocron. That is a good sign as to the depths of your force sensitivity." She mused, beginning to 'walk' around the room, thinking. "For a mere tool, this Holocron is adequate enough to allow me limited access to the Force, enough to see, enough to be able to perform a few small things, but not much else."

"Are...you a person?" Rey asked tentatively, wondering if it was rude to ask such a question. However, she was far too curious to leave the question alone. She knew that there were droids that were capable of independant thought, but Holocrons were something that had never come up in the legends about the Jedi.

Kreia considered the question, eventually settling on an answer that she was satisfied with. "I am more of an echo, than a true person. But I am able to answer questions as well as my living self. In the end, it does not matter, I cannot exist without someone to call upon me, so any individuality I have is a mere illusion."

Rey tried to think of something appropriate to say, knowing all too well the feeling of having no say in your own fate. "I'm...sorry." She managed to say, an expression of sympathy on her face, before Kreia merely scowled at the display.

"I have no desire or need for any sort of sympathy. My time among the living is over." She said curtly, taking Rey aback with the coldness of her voice. She could feel no sense of emotion eminating from the Holocron, but the finality of Kreia's statement didn't need it.

"In any event, my sapience aside, in order for you to truly be a Jedi you must understand the underlying philosophy of the Jedi order." Kreia said, smoothly changing the subject as Rey sat down on the floor to listen. "The Jedi Code's specific origin has been lost to antiquity, even during my time. It is a series of paired statements, the second one answering the first. There is no emotion; there is peace. There is no ignorance; there is knowledge. There is no passion; there is serenity. There is no chaos; there is harmony.  
There is no death; there is the Force."

Rey took in the words, trying to reconcile them with what she had already felt from the Force. She definitely could feel, at times, the peace that came from the Force, that sense of belonging and sheer -oneness- that came from meditation. But still...she was taken back to her vision, to her fight against Kylo Ren, where she had felt the whirling power of the Force flow through her. The chaos, and the power that came from her refusal to lay down and die.

"Of course, there are those, such as the Sith that have their own interpertations of the nature of the Force." Kreia's words broke Rey's train of thought, bringing her back to the present. 'I really need to stop spacing out', she thought wryly. It wouldn't do to be in the middle of combat, only to get killed because she got lost in thought about the deeper mysteries of the universe.

If Kreia noticed Rey's change in demeanor, she didn't comment on it. "The Sith Code is far younger than that of the Jedi, having only arisen in its modern form after a great Schism in the Jedi Order. The Dark Jedi were defeated and exiled to the Unknown Regions, eventually arriving on the planet of Korriban, where they enslaved the native Sith species. The Sith were violent, cruel, and force sensitive, a perfect match for these Dark Jedi. And from this first Order of the Sith Lords, one of them recorded their code: Peace is a lie, there is only passion. From passion, I gain strength. From strength, I gain power. From power, I gain victory. Through victory, my chains are broken."

"The Force shall free me." Kreia finished, and the words resonated within Rey's mind. The code of the Sith echoed her own experiences. Her own passion and strength to live had let her survive countless struggles. Her strength had let her find the power to free herself from Kylo Ren's interrogation and peer into his own mind. That power let her overcome her fear, and fight against him, eventually defeating him. And that victory...that victory had really broken those chains of fear. And it had been thanks to the Force.

But still...even then. Those dark impulses, when she had held Kylo Ren's life in her hands and could feel the urge to snuff it out, that cold and familiar feeling holding Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber frightened her.

"Of course, the Sith often used this power to maim, kill, and control others who they saw as weaker." Kreia continued once Rey had enough time to weigh the codes in her mind. "And the Jedi believed in using their power to mediate disputes, help the downtrodden, and keep the peace throughout the galaxy. The Jedi believe in a code of ethics beyond the ideals stated in the original Code, having many laws banning things that would lead to temptation, and thus, to the Dark Side."

"But...isn't it a choice? To be dark?" The question came to Rey's lips, and the elderly woman hesitated for a moment, visibly taken aback by the question. And then, a small smile.

"Ahh...you question, and you listen. You are like my first, and my last apprentice indeed." She said fondly, before taking a more clinical tone. "Conventional wisdom holds that those who fall to the Dark Side cannot be redeemed, and are forever lost. That once you start down that dark path, it is inevitable you will continue down that path."

"But enough questions for now. Let this sink in, meditate on it, then we will continue another time." Kreia said, cutting her off before Rey could say anything further.

She desperately wanted to continue, but at the same time Kreia's words had her head spinning. With slightly unsteady legs, she got off the floor and walked out of the classroom to head to her own room, mind whirling. Kreia's hologram lingered in the room for a few moments before winking out, lifelessness settling in the library once more.

Author's Notes:

Sorry about the delay, this chapter just kind of refused to come to me, to a certain extent. Also, I hanged out with my family a bunch this week, so that killed a few days.

I hope that those of you who don't know Kreia find her to be relatively understandable. I'm trying very hard to make sure that I'm not leaving out things for you to learn about her.

Other than that, yes, I'm aware that some of this might seem a bit repetitive, but this story will be slow building and I can only write so fast. But, in the grand scheme of things, this story is just barely starting, and Rey's training will take...quite some time. Quite some time indeed.

As always, please, leave a review! They encourage me to write faster. Also, don't be afraid to drop me a private message. 


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: I am extremely sorry for the delay in this chapter, I wanted to update much sooner, but my laptop broke for a bit, then college started, and -now- on my truly first free weekened, I catch an utterly dreadful cold. Lovely, right?

Anyway, yes, I am starting work on this when I feel like death warmed over, because writing is pretty much all I have the energy to do.

And thank you to my reviewers, I appreciate your feedback as always, and I look forward to reading more and more reviews with this new chapter. And yes, I am trying to incorporate more into these chapters, but there's also a point where it feels like a scene is -done-, and adding more simply kills the flow.

I feel like Uncle from Jackie Chan Adventures, but I must say ONE MORE THING: I'm going to add the title of a song I listen to when I make future chapters, and I'm going to include fanfiction recommendations in the Author's Notes from now on. Yes, I will inflict my questionable tastes on you, because I need to get my entertainment from writing somewhere, heh.

So, today's chapter is brought to you by, (besides my review-whore nature):

Song: Black Velvet, Melissa Etheridge

Fanfic: Three Families, by James Golan - It's the 1.2 -million- word Avatar: The Last Airbender fanfic, you can't miss it, and it is brilliant beyond all rational thought. And I'm a sucker for the pairings in it, so bonus!

* * *

Rey was a storm.

Her body was there, but her mind, her awareness, her -power- was tied to the body in only the most superficial of ways.

A blur even to herself, flashes of red and blue lit up the air, the searing heat of barely contained plasma racing through the air reflecting her own inner state of mind. And then, when her inner self could no longer contain itself, the world...

The world stopped and things snapped back into focus.

She was breathing heavily, the gray ground underneath her feet turned to mud, the bodies of dozens of Stormtroopers laying around her like so many discarded and broken toys. And before her, Kylo Ren - no, not Kylo Ren she was dimly aware, but someone with a smiliar uniform, wearing a helmet with no hood on his head.

The Not-Kylo Ren was kneeling on the ground before her, blood dripping from the seals of his helmet, a faint synthetic 'wheeze' that could barely be heard over the rain that turned the ground around them to filth.

She was mere feet from the defeated warrior, who could barely lift his head to look at her. He tried to reach towards her with a trembling gloved hand, seeking...what? Help?

She did not know the answer, but unbidden, a ice cold blade of blue snapped back to life in her hands. She raised the weapon up...

* * *

A gasp.

A return to the world of the waking. Rey ran a hand over her face, trying her best to recall the incoherent flashes that had flitted through her mind the night before. They were foggy and indistinct, but she knew there was some sort of importance to them that she could not shake.

With a grumble of discontent, she shook the heavy covers off her body and headed for the Fresher. Luckily, the Temple was rather well preserved, even after having been out of use for who knows how long, and Luke had spent a great deal of time repairing things in the temple during his seclusion from the Galaxy. A fact that Rey was now thankful for, as she stood under a cleansing spray of water.

She soaked in it for a bit, trying to wash away the unease she felt. With a brief shudder, she reached into the Force, attempting to center her mind at the same time.

The rythmic pulse of the water beating against her skin suddenly became far more noticable, to the point where she felt like she could count each small droplet hitting her tanned skin. Breathing. She focused on herself rather than the world around her, although there was awareness of the world within her very self.

More breaths, the beating of her heart. Those things which seperated her from the cold gray stone of the temple around her. And when the hammering of her heart was all she could hear, all she could -feel-, she breathed out.

She walked out of the fresher, feeling, for lack of a better word, refreshed in more ways than one as she dressed herself in a fresh tan tunic and trousers.

And yet, the sight of a dark hand reaching out for mercy remained in the back of her mind for the rest of the morning.

* * *

"Who is Master Kreia, Master Luke?" Rey found herself asking once they had concluded their morning meal, the older Jedi nodding at her question.

"Who indeed, that is a good question. Master Kreia, according to everything I've been able to find and from what she's told me, was a Jedi Historian and a Jedi Master, having taught several pupils back during the era of the ancient Old Republic. Far back enough that even historians nowadays barely pay attention to that time." Luke said thoughtfully, running his living hand through his thick and unruly beard. "We've had some discussions in the past, and I felt that someone with a very wide background of knowledge would be the best to help you in your training. There is only so much I am going to be able to do for you, and getting a grounding in the traditions and history of the Order is something that perhaps no other sapient in the Galaxy has access to." And here, he looked at her with dead seriousness. "I would be a very poor teacher to deprive you of that sort of opportunity."

The idea that Kriea was a mere schoolmarm didn't sit right in Rey's mind. Even if she was to a large extent an academic sort of person, there was a certain...edge that was blatantly obvious, even through the Holocron. Still though, she would defer to Luke's judgment and knowledge on the matter. And his last statement made her humble, and she bowed her head. "And I thank you for the chance to learn, Master Luke."

The elderly jedi grumbled, clearly not used to such praise, and got up from the cafeteria table. "While normally I would hold off this part of your training until later, practical Lightsaber experience is going to be very important for you, especially considering you're probably wanted across half the known Galaxy by now."

As that soaked in, Luke walked into the hallway, leaving Rey scrambling to follow him.

When she got there, Luke was standing on one end of the room, his back turned to her. She hesitantly walked into the rectangular sparring space, wondering what he was waiting for.

With a whirl, he tossed Anakin Skywalker's lightsaber at her, which she barely matched to catch via sheer reflex.

His green Lightsaber lit up and was swinging at her face within the space of a second.

A flash of blue, and she managed to deflect the blow with her own blade desperately, barely holding the burning flame away from her flesh.

Luke pulled back, his face stony as Rey's mind was trying to catch up with what the -frak- just happened.

But he came at her again, from a different angle before she could even form a single word. Again, a desperate block.

His attacks became a barrage, beating her back without mercy, her arms trembling from each blow as she fumbled around, doing her best to anticipate his attacks. He was like the ocean outside the temple, implacable, everywhere, and infinitely patient.

And she then knew, as he battered her saber out of her hands and onto the cold stone floor, that Kylo Ren was a mere child in comparison to Luke Skywalker. She looked at the blade in front of her until all she could see was the bright green of his blade, watching as it drifted closer to her.

It touched her.

And it did nothing to damage her, or her clothing. With a 'snap-hiss' Luke extinguished it and looked at her with a wry smirk. "Training mode. A useful tool."

Rey finally managed to find the words to express her emotional state. "What just happened?"

Luke looked at her, his tired grey eyes stormy and serious. "I attacked you as a Sith would, just now. No remorse, no pity, no mercy. The Dark Side does not believe in these ideals, and neither will the Knights of Ren. If they come for you and you hesitate in your resolve as a Jedi, you will be cut down like the ones Ben Solo helped murder on that dark night, years ago. As wonderful and as peaceful as the Order can be, you must learn how to defend yourself properly."

He started to pace around the room, appraising her. "You had sloppy form, although you clearly have some combat experience. You barely tapped into the Force when I attacked, and being able to find your center even in the midst of a pitched battle is a key to true Lightsaber Combat. My training will be exhausting, and I will not take it easy on you. If you wish to leave, the door is that way." He gestured with his saber hilt towards the exit, although Rey immediately knew her answer.

Rather than say it though, she reached out with a hand towards the fallen saber on the ground, the hilt flying into her palm as if it was made to be there.

Luke looked grimly pleased, and raised his saber again, the green beam flaring to life. And they locked blades once more.

And in the excitement of battle, her vision during the night was forgotten, a mere dream fading into distant memory.

* * *

The two of them sparred throughout the early afternoon, and by the end of it, Rey was slicked with sweat, beads of it dripping down into her eyes as she panted for breath.

Luke, for his part, was breathing just as heavily, his face red but he didn't look quite as exhausted as Rey did. "Good...for a first lesson." Luke said, walking over to a supply closet in the training room to grab a towel, tossing it at her while he pulled out one for himself.

Thankful, she grabbed it and wiped her face clean, looking at him with a bit of awe and envy. She was 19, fit from a life of hard work under the desert sun, and Luke Skywalker, who was pushing 50 was in better shape than her somehow. She would have to pry the secret of his vitality from him, although based upon how heavily he was drawing from the Force during their sparring, she suspected it had something to do with that.

She on the other hand was unused to drawing on the Force during stressful situations, and thus relied more on her natural strength than that of the Force, much to the protest of her sore body.

When they were both sufficiently cooled down, Luke straighted up and dusted his tunic off, his heavier cloak having been discarded in the name of keeping cool. "I think that's enough for now, and I need to place in a few orders for more supplies to be delivered here. I suspect that Master Kreia would probably like to see you and continue your lessons." Luke informed her, gathering his things up.

Rey nodded tiredly and handed off Anakin's saber to Luke, who took it gingerly into his mechanical hand. And with that, she walked off towards the Library, ready for her second lesson with the ancient Jedi Master. A part of Rey distantly knew that this second lesson would more than likely be an even more fierce battle than the ones she had with Luke.


	7. Chapter 7

Rey's steps echoed off the stone steps of the library floor as she made her way towards the training room, trying to find a certain level of calm before she met with Kreia for her second lesson. In the end it was a pointless waste of effort, simply because Rey knew that the other woman liked to approach things from an odd angle. Even her encounters with Kylo Ren were less confusing than Kreia's concise, yet complex statements.

Still, she had to admit to herself, she relished the challenge even as she feared it. She drew on that feeling, and her breathing calmed down as she stepped into the room confidently, sitting down on the floor cross legged like she had the last time.

Within seconds, Kreia's form flickered into life, the hooded Jedi Master nodding her head in greeting. "Ah, you've returned. I take it you've done some thinking on my words?" She asked, her dead gray eyes staring straight ahead at nothing. Even then, Rey could feel her attention fixed firmly on her.

"I have." Rey said hesitantly, considering her words carefully. "You said the Jedi feel that those who fall to the Dark Side are forever lost. But...how can that be? Aren't there always choices?" For a moment, her mind flickered back to the sight of a scar red blade shoved firmly through Han Solo's chest.

Kreia noted Rey's temporary distraction, but ignored it. Instead, she began to answer her question. "The Jedi feel that the Dark Side is simply too corrupting to those that it has a firm grasp on. It colors their very character until the point that they become mere conduits for its debased tendencies."

"But -how-?" Rey pressed, her eyes intense as she tried to come to terms with it. "Do we not have free will? How can anyone say that feeling emotions will lead to you being some sort of...deranged psychopath!" She barely managed to repress a wince as she thought that over. Considering that the only example of a Force user that allowed themselves to feel the full spectrum of emotions that she knew of was Kylo Ren, well...maybe the Jedi had a point there.

"There are those throughout history that have said the Force has a grand plan for us all. That we are but mere pawns that live at the whim of a mystical force that neither cares nor considers others in its plans, even as the Galaxy is consumed by countless wars between Jedi and Sith in the name of balance." A strange inflection accompanied Kreia's explanation, although Rey could not tell if it was contempt or bitterness.

"Still." Kreia continued. "Even if we discard that view, there are many examples throughout history that shows that many Sith tend to become engrossed in their own emotions. They start to view others as mere objects at best, or at worst, obstacles that need to be removed."

"And...who, exactly, are these Sith?" Rey asked slowly. While information on the Jedi was scarce in the galaxy, information on their dark counterparts was even more rare to come across. She had only just begun to reach the sections of the manuscripts Luke had given her that began to talk about them.

The ancient Jedi Master gave a low hum of approval at this line of questioning. "The Sith of my time were conquerors. They leveraged the discontent peoples of the galaxy, united under a banner of strength and revolution to attempt to destroy the Republic, creating a new Sith Empire, with the Jedi turned Sith Lords' Revan and Malak as the rulers."

Rey could see it all too easily. The taste of power...the thrill of combat, going to your head. To go from protecting people, to leading them, to ruling them really did make a twisted sort of logic.

"But Revan's Sith Empire was built on the back of machines and thugs. The True Sith are far more than that." Rey could almost feel the air still at Kreia's words as the hologram appeared to lean in, her voice dropping to a mere whisper. "The Sith is a belief. From their teachings, Jedi were remade as killing machines, loyal men bombed their homeworlds into dust, and the very Force itself could be made to bend to their will. For thousands upon thousands of years, the disciples of the Sith way made war on a Galactic scale, leaving untold destruction in its wake. Revan's Sith Empire was merely the latest incarnation during my time."

"Of course, this all occurred approximately four thousand years in the past. Her Sith Empire was rather different from the foe you face now." Kreia said flippantly, the sudden change of tone as well as the admission shocking Rey out of her thoughts.

"Four thousand years?" She asked incredulously. She knew that the Jedi were an ancient order, but to hear of events from that time from someone who had been there was quite another. How many people even knew that the New Republic that shined brightly in the core worlds could have been aborted long before its time? It was a chilling thought.

"And, from what Luke has told me, the Sith attempted to overthrow the Republic at least two more times until they finally succeeded approximately 50 years ago. They can be quite persistent." Kreia said dryly, the sly humor going unnoticed as Rey worked through the implications of that bit of knowledge.

It explained quite a lot. Darth Vader, the First Order...Kylo Ren, the pieces fit into place, why they did what they did. And while there were still some gaps in her knowledge, at the same time it was far more than she had known during the flurry of events that culminated in the destruction of a planet-sized super weapon. The events of that day had their root in plots began thousands of years before her time.

But it didn't answer the most important question that Rey had in a definitive way. If the Dark Side corrupted inherently, or if it was the -circumstances- of falling to the Dark Side that corrupted. But even if the question had been answered, she wasn't sure if she would like the answer.

"Thank you, Master Kreia...you've given me a lot to think about." She said, bowing her head a bit awkwardly in thanks.

Kreia waved her right hand in a dismissive motion. With a bit of surprise, Rey noticed her cloak shift, revealing a stump where her left hand should have been, clear even despite the grainy quality of the holocron. "These questions are but the beginning of your training. With time, the mysteries of the Force will unravel themselves before you. I see great potential in your future. But what shape that potential will take, I cannot say. Now then...I suppose we'll begin to touch upon other subjects that you've begun to learn."

And so, they drifted away from the topic of the Sith towards the various text that Luke had instructed her to read. Rey half expected Kreia to get frustrated with her own slowness in comprehending the dense written material but the inhabitant of the Holocron was infinitely patient in helping her work through it.

That wasn't to say that Rey was stupid, but the lack of a formal education was working against her here. But when she was given a chance, she drank in the knowledge and absorbed it with an eagerness that surprised even herself. From mathematics, to history, to the philosophy of the Jedi Order, she was receiving an education that not even Luke's old students from the academy had a chance to obtain, largely in part due to the relatively intact records, as well as Kreia's own expertise.

By the time she left the library, she felt accomplished, even as her head swirled with new information. She was on autopilot as she finished her activities for the day, settling down in her room with a sigh. Within moments of her head hitting the pillow, she fell asleep.

A disturbing sensation of murkiness overwhelmed Rey's senses. It was like looking through a warped piece of glass, while the rest of her head was swaddled in cloth. She tried to breathe, only to discover she could not.

In a panic, she grasped the Force, trying to calm herself. But the Force yanked back, taking her down, down...

Her vision cleared, her senses became sharpened a hundred fold. She was...wearing something on her face, her vision restricted into a band of sight. Standing on a ship's bridge, looking into space, where strange ships were dancing around one another, lances of bright turbolaser fire burning through the dark void as they struck one another like the fists of angry gods.

She could hear muted sounds behind her as she turned away from the battle, unable to control her own movements. And then things became a blur. All she could hear clearly was the sound of her own breathe as the sights, the sounds washed by her until...PAIN.

The agony washing over her, a stabbing sensation piercing her brain while her whole body twitched and tried to move. It burned through her very being, stars in her eyes as she gasped for breath that was becoming infinitely more precious by the minute. She tried to reach for the Force, only to feel it slipping away from her, until...until...

Rey shot up from her bed, her eyes wide with panic, sweat slicking her brow as she did her best to reassure herself that she was awake, and not dreaming.

But, as she looked down at her hands, she couldn't quite convince herself that the dream hadn't been real.

A/N:

It has been some time.

Yes, I'm not dead, although my laptop was for a while. Then classes, life, and more got in the way and I just couldn't find the motivation to finish writing. But a new idea entered my head, and I decided to take another crack at a chapter.

So, for those of you who have been waiting for this, here you go. For those of you who are just starting this story and have gotten to this point, I hope that this particular chapter has some noticeable improvement from the first ones.

As always, I ask that you please take the time to leave a review. Suggestions, concerns, comments, these are the things that keep my motivation strong and alive.

And for those of you who are wondering what's going on, have faith, all will be explained in time. I'm only using established Extended Universe material for now, with a few...necessary exceptions. And if anyone happened to notice those exceptions, try not to spoil it for others in your reviews.

One more thing: I'm looking for a Beta Reader, if anyone happens to be interested, do let me know.


	8. Chapter 8

It was hard to ignore her dreams, but she managed regardless. Rey was no stranger to long, restless nights back on Jakku, and she threw herself into her training with a gusto. Before long, days turned into weeks, and Rey was settled into a new routine. Mornings were reserved for training with Luke, while afternoons belonged to her sessions with Kreia.

It was an arrangement that seemed to work out well for all involved, although she couldn't help but wonder why Luke had her learning from two different people at the same time. One morning after her practice, she hesitantly approached him with said question.

"Its simple." The older man grunted has he gathered his long over cloak from where he had discarded it on the stone floor of the training room. "I may know many things, but Kreia is far more of an academic than I am. I would have to relearn everything I forgot from when I had students before." And to Luke's credit, Rey hardly noticed the small flinch has he referred to his former pupils.

"Lightsaber combat, the ability to draw on the Force in real time, these are things that I know instinctively." He continued. "Mathematics, History, all the softer subjects you should know as a Jedi I could hardly do justice like Kreia can. Even if she is a bit...eccentric, her Holocron is one of the few intact, and she's the only Jedi Master among them. Now why that is, I can hardly say for certain. Her Holocron wasn't part of the original repository, although even she doesn't know who brought her here."

It made sense, she figured. Luke had explained that the particular temple they were in pre-dated even Kreia's time, and had gone out of use long before the Jedi Civil War. Why anyone would bring her Holocron here instead of to the Jedi Temple on Coruscant however was a mystery.

Still, having such a repository of knowledge that had escaped the purge of the Emperor was a stroke of luck that Rey was more than willing to take advantage of. Her knowledge grew by leaps and bounds as she took in all her lessons and continued to read. Countless facts and figures of the old Jedi Order, and how they had been a galaxy spanning network of beings who dedicated their lives to helping those in need.

It defied reason that anyone would want to harm them, much less go out of their way to systematically exterminate them all. What kind of monster would it take to do that? Her mind flashed back to Kylo Ren, and she grimaced as she realized she already knew the answer.

She left the training room and went back to her room to use the Fresher before she went to her lesson with Kreia. As she stepped under the cooling stream of water, she sighed, listening to the steady beat of the water flow.

As she did so, the words from her lesson with Kreia just the day before came to the front of her mind, even as the pulse of the water drowned out all other sound.

"It has been suspected by a few Jedi Masters that events of a certain...significance may create echos in the Force. Marking the galaxy forever with what happened at that particular place. And, if one listens hard enough, they can hear those echoes in the Force." The shadowy Jedi Master said, when she was explaining how Jedi 'felt' the world around them.

It had been a mere mention in Kreia's speech, but she couldn't help remember her dream from a few weeks ago. And so...tentatively, she reached out with the Force. At first, the world came into an otherworldly focus around her as she felt her surroundings. But instead of reaching out with her senses, she tried to cast them 'under'.

Nothing happened, other than a strange dimming of the world around her as the sounds and sights of both the real world and her Force perceptions became muffled. She reached down further still, the world going dark, until...

She was standing on a world darker than her nightmares, the cracked surface impossibly dark as lightning crashed down around her.

She was standing on the metal hull plating of a ship, as she watched a man and woman clash with a speed that awed her, one wielding a crimson saber, the other a blue blade.

She was standing in the middle of an ancient grove, a single male Jedi standing before three others, discussing something of importance.

She was standing in the middle of the Jedi Temple as she watched a cloaked figure step through the open columns and ignite an icy-blue saber, with a legion of not-Stormtroopers at his back.

She was standing on the surface of a beautiful world, watching in slow motion as a beam of green light boiled a continent, and then the crust.

She was standing in the middle of a metallic throne room, while an inhumanely old man tortured a boy with sandy blonde hair, lances of lightning arcing from his fingertips.

She was standing on a metal balcony, looking up with others as they cried out in terror at a sun-colored ray that sped towards the planet.

She was standing there, dying a thousand thousand deaths over and over again with them, feeling their pain, their agony. From murder to genocide, she was there. The pain echoed through the Force, and through her. For an infinite moment, she Was. Then for an equally infinite moment, she Wasn't.

It was pure, unrestrained -feeling-, empathy on a galactic scale. Rey was drowning in it, the screams of countless dead echoing forever and finally finding a place within her. To listen was death, but to become deaf to it would be even worse. The sensation built within her, until she finally could contain it no longer.

She screamed.

It was a scream that was heard by only a few, but those that did hear it would never forget.

At the time, Luke had been meditating. Reflecting on Rey's growing power and knowledge under his teaching. It was painful, but ultimately necessary if he was to atone for his own sins. Through her, he could pass on the knowledge of the Jedi, and give her the strength to defend herself.

Luke was growing old and weak with every passing year, while Kylo Ren was growing into the height of his power under the watchful eye of his shadowy master, Snoke.

He had his suspicions about who and what he was, but having never met the being in question he could never confirm them. But his worries were slowly ebbing away with every training session. He had his doubts about Rey, but every time they crossed blades the reasons to continue teaching her only grew.

It was in the middle of this cautiously optimistic reflection that he felt it. A scream that shattered the peace that he felt, and made his hand snap down reflexively to his lightsaber.

With a speed that he hadn't used since he fled the academy, he rushed to Rey's room. He used the Force to shove the door out of the way and scanned the room, his metal fist curled around his blade. He walked to the Fresher and found her there, shivering, eyes wide and unseeing with terror on the floor of the cramped space.

With a grimace, he slowly, carefully picked her up off the floor, flinching a bit from the close and admittedly awkward contact. It was necessary, however, as he carried her towards the infirmary. He could feel her mind frayed, barely withstanding the backlash of whatever it was that had happened to her.

With a gentle pulse from the Force, he eased her into a sleep in his arms, giving a long sigh as he finally made his way into the infirmary. He laid her down on a raised slab and began to rummage through the meager supplies he had, although he knew that what ailed her was not physical.

Still though...it granted him some small comfort, knowing that he was doing something. He found a thick blanket and threw it over her shivering, naked form, before he sat down on the cold stone floor and closed his eyes, reaching out with the Force for any hint as to what happened.

At the time, Kylo Ren and Snoke were sparring.

His scar-red blade met his Master's own, the two beams of superheated plasma colliding with an angry hiss as they fought. Despite his frail appearance, Snoke was more than holding his own against the younger human, and could have easily obliterated his young apprentice.

Still, the gap between them was getting smaller every day, just as Snoke intended. Kylo Ren was proving himself to be worthy, even after the setback at Starkiller Base. It brought a smile to his reptilian lips as he pressed the offensive, the sounds of battle echoing throughout the training room hidden deep within Snoke's private retreat.

And then, they felt it.

Kylo Ren sank to his knees and gripped his head, crying out in utter agony as the sensation ripped past his mental defenses, flashes of death and destruction searing into his mind as he sank to his knees.

Snoke himself let the wave wash over him, grimacing from the unfamiliar feeling. It did little to him, although the fact that such an...undirected manifestation of the Force could cause him to feel any discomfort was surprising. The fact that the same sensation disabled his student was even more curious.

"Its her." Ren finally managed to gasp, his chest rattling from the effort of taking a complete breath. "S-she...something happened. I felt it."

Ah. Most...intriguing. With a flick of his wrist, his saber found its way into the folds of his cloak and place a hand on Kylo Ren's forehead, probing his student's mind. And what he found there morphed his expression of curiosity into one of calculation and amusement. "It seems that the Force has yet more surprises in store for us, my Apprentice."

Snoke pulled away and turned to head out of the training room. "Many surprises indeed. Come, this changes things."

A/N: So yes, another chapter posted so shortly after my last one.

What can I say, other than the fact that I found a bit of inspiration? This are probably going a bit fast in comparison to where we started, although I do think that interspacing a bit of action into the training montage that I had going on for a while is a good thing.

I will say, my original premise for this story has morphed into something...quite different, and my shift is more than likely quite noticable. I might even go back to clean up the first few chapters, although I'm uncertain as to when I'll do that.

But anyway, now we're starting to get the ball rolling, so to speak. And depending on my mood, things could get...pretty weird, pretty quick, or we could stick in more 'familiar' territory for now.

I'd love to hear all your thoughts on the matter, please leave me a review, or send me a PM. Even the simplest of messages makes my day and encourages me to get better as a writer.


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